What is the difference between kW and kWh?

A lot of persons including professionals don’t fully understand the difference between kW and kWh. As much as these two units of measurement sound alike, they are very different. The major difference is the element of time.

Kilowatt, represented by a lower case letter ‘k’ and an uppercase letter ‘W’ is a measure of power. ‘k’ stands for ‘kilo’ which means 1000. Therefore, a kilowatt (kW) is 1000 watts. The power a device uses at a given moment is measured in kilowatts (kW).

WHILE

Kilowatt-hour, represented by a lower case ‘k’, uppercase ‘W’ and lower case ‘h’ is a measure of energy. It is a unit of 1kW consumed in an hour. The amount of energy a device uses over a given period of time is measured in kilowatt-hour (kWh). For example, if you use a 100W bulb for 6 hours every day, it means it consumes (6*100= 600W)/1000 = 0.6kWh. Therefore, it consumes 0.6kW per hour.